Above: Minister Diane Ablonczy

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Canada’s Minister of State of Foreign Affairs, Diane Ablonczy, has begun a seven-day, seven-country trip to the Caribbean.

Ablonczy is currently in the Bahamas, which she will visit along with St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada.

“Canada shares a special, historic relationship with the countries of the Caribbean. The strength of those ties lies in our ongoing cooperation in the region, and also in the long-standing personal connections between our peoples,” Ablonczy said in a statement. “Our government is committed to deepening those close partnerships, and to enhancing prosperity and security in the Caribbean and across the hemisphere.”

The trip will include talks with heads of government, ministers and officials to discuss “the economic and security situations in the Caribbean and how to advance shared priorities,” according to a government release.

The trip comes after Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s visit to Canada in April.